He Only Ever Has Four Nightmares Anymore
by SPT
Summary: WARNING: SPOILERS FOR TALION! This is kind of a tag, kind of an offshoot of a certain scene.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: He Only Ever Has Four Nightmares Anymore**

**Rating: K+**

**Disclaimer: I don't own or have any rights to Stargate or its characters.**

**Comments: WARNING: SPOILERS FOR TALION! I'm not even sure this story is going to be worth writing, so please review. This is probably more angsty than it needs to be, but Ben Browder just plays "broken" sooo well. This story was brought on by seeing a Farscape pic of him curled in the fetal position, totally made me want to cry, as did parts of this episode.**

Mitchell sighed with relief when Landry finally left the observation room, glad that he was at least pretending to buy the falsified report. Not like he'd never told a little white lie on a report before, but this was different. This could easily lose him his job.

He turned his attention back to Teal'c and Bra'tak in the room below him. Their relationship reminded him of him and his dad's: the kindred warrior (or in their case, pilot) spirit, the innate closeness, but most of all, the mutual respect. It was the respect that killed Cam the most. He knew that on some level, Teal'c respected him at least a little, but that wasn't enough for him.

He was so involved with his own thoughts that he didn't realize Bra'tak had left Teal'c to return to his own room. It took another minute to realize that Teal'c was staring at him. Feeling suddenly uncomfortable, Mitchell inclined his head and promptly got the hell out of dodge.

He had some of his own issues to work through before he was ready to talk to Teal'c.

Cam decided to head to his office for the last hour of his day. No one ever looked for him there because he was never in there, and his head could really use some peace and quiet. He needed some time alone to think before everything he was dealing with made its way to the surface.

"Mitchell!"

Cameron did his best to suppress the growl when he heard Daniel call his name. "What's up, Jackson?"

"Oh, nice bruise you got there, betcha got a nasty headache to go along with it, huh?"

Cam let a sliver of the frustration he was feeling seep into his voice, "and some blurred vision. Did you need something?"

Daniel bounced on his heels, slightly taken aback by the other man's sour mood. Of course, if he'd just gotten his ass kicked by someone that was supposed to be a friend, he might be a little pissed off too. "Well, I was going to see if you were up for a game of basketball, but I'm guessing the answer's no?" He continued when he received a nod of affirmation, "so, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." He gave Cam a good natured slap on the back.

Mitchell couldn't help but drop to one knee at the sudden pain that flared through his chest. Damn that hurt.

Jackson immediately knelt beside him and winced at Cam's ragged breathing. "Sounds like you forgot to mention the broken ribs to anyone."

"Yeah, nice aim," he wheezed. "Now give me a hand up before someone else sees this." He snatched his arm away when Daniel reached for his right arm though, "other hand."

Jackson nodded and moved to help his team leader to his feet, but it quickly became apparent that Cam wasn't capable of standing on his own yet, so Daniel let them both slide back down to sit against the wall. "What else did you manage to slip by the medical staff while they were preoccupied with Teal'c?"

Cameron silently unbuttoned his sleeve and held up a shaky right arm for Jackson's inspection.

Daniel let out a low whistle at the deep shades of blues and purples covering a good portion of the Col's forearm. "No wonder you've had your shirt sleeves down since we got back. You sure its not broken?"

Cam nodded, and immediately wished he hadn't as it only intensified the pounding in his head, "positive. Look, I'm going to go home, get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow." He used the wall to slowly pull himself to his feet.

"Yeah, I don't think so. You're in no condition to drive or be alone tonight." It didn't take an expert in languages, spoken or otherwise, to know that something besides his injuries was bothering Cam. "I'll drive you home, stick around for awhile."

Mitchell was too tired to argue, so he just allowed himself to be led to Jackson's Subaru. It didn't even occur to him that he'd left his keys on the base until they reached his front door. He gave Daniel a sheepish smile as he lifted the doormat to retrieve his hide-a-key. He would have gone head first into the bushes if Jackson hadn't caught him. Note to self…

Daniel kept a hand on him and guided him toward the couch. "Sit, aspirin's in the bathroom?" He didn't wait for an answer and soon returned with three pills and a glass of water. "Got anything in your fridge?"

"Not that's edible." Cam didn't even bother to open his eyes as he answered.

Jackson would have laughed, but the sad fact was that the reply would have been the same no matter whose house he was at. "Thought so, I'll go get us some dinner, be back in a few."

Mitchell waved a dismissive hand in his teammate's direction. He wasn't hungry in the least, but Jackson could so whatever he wanted at this point as long as he was quiet. He waited until he heard the front door close before he rolled onto his uninjured side and wrapped his arms protectively around his broken ribs.

**STARGATE: SG-1**

Cam's eyes were bugging out of his head as he struggled to draw a breath. Thankfully the hand constricting his throat loosened slightly as the other fist slammed into his already battered face. His attacker appeared to take great pleasure in mixing verbal abuse with the physical.

"You are a great disappointment, Col Mitchell, Gen O'Neill would have never made such a mistake." A feral look hardened the dark eyes. "You should have taken my advice the first time we had this type of conversation."

Cameron collapsed to the ground as the hand was taken away. He was only able to draw a single breath before a large boot was inserted into his ribs. He tried to focus on the tattoo of the face looming over him.

"You will never deserve this position or our respect, and now I shall have to kill you."


	2. Chapter 2

Daniel was glad he hadn't bothered to lock the front door when he'd left, his hands were way to full of takeout containers to fumble with Mitchell's notoriously finicky lock. He managed to nudge the door open without dropping anything. Hearing a low groan from the other room, he quickly deposited the food on the kitchen table and hurried into the living room.

Cameron was bathed in sweat, his breathing labored; he trashed trying to fight off some unseen foe. He rolled off the couch and onto the floor with a thud just before Daniel was able to reach him. The jolt was enough to wake the Col from his dream.

Daniel winced at the broken look in the wide blue eyes. He'd never seen Cam look that lost and hopeless before, there'd always been at least a spark of fight in his eyes. "I can't leave you alone for five minutes." He dropped the joke when Cam didn't return his grin, "bad dream?"

Mitchell nodded, trying to relax his breathing and rein in the pain, "you could say that. So, what's for dinner?"

Jackson didn't buy the subject change for a second as he gently helped Cameron back up onto the couch. "Nice try, hell I practically invented that tactic. The food will keep; tell me what's going on," he ordered.

Cam knew that there was no way Jackson was going to let this go; the man could be insanely stubborn when he wanted to. "Um, how 'bout we do both. My stomach's informing me that I haven't eaten since 0700." Five minutes later he got his wish as Jackson had the entire spread laid out on the coffee table.

"So?"

"So yeah, I had a bad dream, happens sometimes."

"Yeah they do. You want to tell me about it?" Daniel bounced his eyebrows at his team leader, waiting for him to swallow the bite of Peking Duck.

"Not really, but I know you're not going to leave this alone, so… I only ever have four nightmares anymore, details vary slightly. My little altercation with Teal'c just hit a little too close to home."

Jackson cocked his head, "what are the four?"

Cam blew out a shaky breath. "One: the Ori make it to Earth before we figure out how to defeat them. Two: I lose the ability to walk, to fly, ever again. Three: I lose one of you guys, permanently. Four: I lose your, Sam's, Vala's, Teal'c's, or my dad's respect."

"I see," and he really did; that admission explained a lot about why Mitchell was the way he was, and did the things he did. Daniel let the thought roll around in his head as they ate in silence for a few minutes. He thought back to some of the risks Cameron had taken over the last two years and realized that the majority of them had been taken with the intent of protecting the team. "So, which one was this?"

"Teal'c, it's becoming a little too realistic for comfort." He gave a small, humorless laugh, "you know I've been on the receiving end of his ire at least five times that I can think of. Granted, there were extenuating circumstances each time, but I'm not that big of a believer in coincidences."

"You think Teal'c is going to kill you," Daniel asked with a furrowed brow.

"What? No, God no. Hell the guy's saved my ass more times that I can count." Cam scrubbed at his face, careful to avoid the tender area above his right eye. "I just can't help but wonder what he thinks of me if he doesn't think twice about hitting me. I mean, I highly doubt he would have done the same to Gen O'Neill, not that the Gen would have made the same mistake I did."

"Actually, I think Jack would have used your 'Zat him before he goes through the gate' idea."

"True."

Daniel set his food down so he could look the other man in the eye. "Look Mitchell, I can't speak for Teal'c, but I don't think there's anything you could do that would be drastic enough to make me lose respect for you. You've proven you will do anything for the people you care about and for what you believe in; in my book, that makes you a good man."

"Thanks Jackson, you have no idea how much that means to me." Cam felt like a rather large weight had been lifted from his chest. He'd still worry about losing Jackson's respect, but at least now he knew where he stood to begin with.

"Actually, I think I'm starting to. You compare yourself to Jack a lot, don't you?" He laid a comforting hand on Cameron's shoulder.

"Probably more than is healthy," he admitted.

"Well, that doesn't surprise me considering how much you two have in common." Cam's face must have displayed his surprise because Jackson continued with a chuckle. "Yeah, you are. Oh come on, you're both insanely sarcastic, alien women throw themselves at you-"

"-hey, we don't exactly have the market cornered on that one."

"Touche, but most of all, you both make great team leaders and friends. This might sound strange, but I'm not sure Jack could have led us this far against the Ori; your religious knowledge and faith have been a huge asset. You do know that right?" Daniel let the conversation lapse into silence. He knew Cam still had a lot on his mind; a mind that probably wasn't working at a 100 percent right now due to it's recent rattling. "So…" he trailed off when he saw that Mitchell's head had dropped to the back of the couch and his eyes were closed. He'd have a stiff neck to add to his list of injuries in the morning if Daniel let him sleep like that all night. "Mitchell, wake up, you'll hate me in the morning if I don't force you to go to bed… Mitchell?"

"What? Just let me sleep." Cameron batted his hands away.

"Nope, not until you make it to your bed, come on." Daniel hauled the barely coherent man to his fee, careful not to pull too hard on his injured ribs or arm. With his hands firmly on both of Cam's shoulders, Jackson steered him down the hall to his bedroom and made sure he made it to the bed before he passed out again.

Daniel had done the concussion thing to death, so he knew all the warning signs, and Mitchell was starting to scare him. On the other hand, his disorientation could be purely from his obvious exhaustion. He knew that if he called the base now, Carolyn would have both their heads; she was just a tad overprotective of Cam. He placed a hand on the Col's forehead, no fever, who promptly shoved it off.

"I'm fine Jackson, I just need sleep." Cam slatted his eyes open far enough to see Daniel's disbelieving look, "don't believe me, fine. Who: Lt Col Cameron Mitchell USAF. Where: my own bed. Why: because you drove me home after Teal'c knocked my ass out. When: Thursday, May12, 2007." Daniel wasn't the only one who knew the drill when it came to head injuries. "Now will you let me sleep?"

"Its kinda sad that we both know how to do this so well, isn't it." He smiled as he flipped off the lights.

Cam returned his smile, "just a bit. The guest room sheets are clean. And Jackson, thanks."

"No problem, you've done the same for me."

**STARGATE: SG-1**

Three hours later Cam was bolt upright in bed again, flushed with a cold sweat and breathing hard. He jumped when Jackson burst into the room, "I have to talk to Teal'c if I'm ever going to get any sleep."


	3. Chapter 3

**I apologize for the length of this chapter, busy week, but I wanted to get something up. I promise that Cam and Teal'c will chat in the next chapter. Also, if anyone has any hints for writing Teal'c's humorous side, please pass them on.**

"Why is he in restraints?"

Dr. Lam tore her attention from the man lying in the bed. "He's been having some pretty vivid nightmares. Comparatively, he's still relatively new to the whole dreaming scene, so it doesn't surprise me that he reacts physically to them. He re-opened one of his staff blast wounds before we managed to get him restrained." Carolyn was exhausted; she loved her job, wouldn't trade it for the world, but there were days when she knew that working in the nation's busiest ER would be less stressful. "Bra'tak has been in here part of the night, he was able to calm Teal'c down somewhat."

"Any idea how long he'll be down?" With all these new plots against Earth emerging, Landry wanted his front line team out there doing what they did best, causing trouble.

"Well, his Tretonin helps him heal faster than us, but it will be at least a week or two yet. The stab wound…" She trailed off as Teal'c began to stir, "Teal'c, how are you feeling?"

"Better than the last time I woke." He pulled questioningly at one of the wrist restraints and raised an eyebrow in the General's direction. "Am I under suspicion?"

"No Teal'c, I'm sure we can remove these now," she said as she began unbuckling the leather straps. "You must have been having some pretty interesting dreams last night, you were moving around enough to open some of your wounds. If you remember any of them, it might do you some good to talk about them." It was obvious to Carolyn that Teal'c had a lot on his mind and she sincerely hoped he would be able to open up to someone. "I imagine Bra'tak would be up for another visit."

"Indeed, but I would prefer to speak with Col Mitchell first. Is he on base?"

His question took both Landry and Lam by surprise; they shared a brief look before the General answered. "I don't believe he's reported in yet this morning but I will let him know you're interested in speaking with him."

"Thank you General, I would greatly appreciate that."

Teal'c let his head sink back onto the pillow; even after three years, he was still not comfortable with the process of dreaming. His dreams last night had not been pleasant, the fact that they were on replay on the video monitor in his head wasn't making them any better. The look on Mitchell's face was etched into his mind's eye. It wasn't the only dream he'd had last night, but it was the one he was having the most difficulty dealing with."

**STARGATE: SG-1**

Daniel woke to the very pleasant smell of fresh coffee, bless you Mitchell. He quickly grabbed a t-shirt and headed for the kitchen.

Cam was seated at the kitchen table, his hands wrapped securely around a steaming mug. He was completely oblivious to Jackson's presence until the archeologist laid a hand on his shoulder. Mitchell was on his feet and had Daniel in a wrist lock before he realized who it was, "sorry Jackson," he mumbled as he wrapped one hand around his ribs and the other around his forehead. "I'm just a tad jumpy."

The other man rubbed at his wrist lightly, "ya think?" He took in the dark circles under the Col's eyes and his haggard appearance in general. "Did you sleep at all last night?"

"Nope, going to have to talk to Teal'c before I'll be doing any more of that."

"Yeah, lets hope this conversation goes better than the last one did." Daniel's search finally came to fruition as he got his hands on a travel mug and filled it to the brim with coffee. "Well, _I'm_ ready."

Cameron threw him a contrite look before leading the way out the door. Leave it to Jackson to give such a great pep talk, now he was just raring to talk with Teal'c."


	4. Chapter 4

**So, this isn't finishing itself as easily as I'd hoped. I'd love some suggestions if you've got them.**

He ditched Jackson in the locker room once they reached the base. He'd had the entire drive to think about what he was going to say to Teal'c, and he had yet to even come up with an opening line; 'hi' just didn't sound right. He hadn't realized how slowly he was moving until two SFs passed, giving him a strange look. Cam picked up his pace as much as his battered body would allow; no point in putting off the inevitable.

Carolyn was just finishing a vitals check when he poked his head into the room. "How's he doing?"

Lam turned and let her eyes roam over the new arrival for a second before answering, "better than you look. Are you sure my staff gave you a clean bill of health?"

"Ah, yeah," his eyes dropped to his feet as he fidgeted. He knew she saw straight through the act, but he couldn't focus on that right now, he had a mission to accomplish. "Can I get a few minutes alone with him?"

"Well, he's asleep now, I don't know when he'll come around, but you're welcome to sit with him till then." She sighed, her gaze switching between the handsome man in front of her and the one lying in the bad. "He was asking for you earlier, I think you might have been in a couple of his dreams last night."

"Prefect," he collapsed heavily into the chair next to Teal'c's bed.

Carolyn didn't miss the wince at his rough landing, and she hadn't missed the light sheen of sweat, the fact that his sleeves were rolled down, or the labored breathing either. Two of the three were textbook physiologic signs of pain. It had only been about 18 hours since he and Jackson had hauled an unconscious Teal'c through the gate with Sam and Vala covering their six. She'd known at the time that there was more to the story than he'd told the General, now she was just wondering how much more. "Why don't you come see me after you're done here."

He raked a hand through his hair, "I'm fine really, I just need some sleep."

"That wasn't a request Col." He couldn't help his wandering eyes as the followed her out of the small room. Damn, but she was an attractive woman.

His blue eyes returned to Teal'c's face, the man looked so much more peaceful than he had looked on the planet. He became so engrossed in his own thoughts that he didn't even realize that his eyes had slid shut and he'd drifted off to sleep. It didn't take long for the dreams to start.

Teal'c felt like someone had painted his eyelids with lead as he struggled to force them open. He could feel his body getting stronger each time he woke; he knew it would only be a matter of days before he was fit for duty again.

He let his eyes scan the room before coming to rest on the sleeping man beside his bed. Mitchell twitched as his head tossed from side to side; he was curled tightly into himself. Teal'c felt a stab of guilt at the Col's posture. He knew the man had only been trying to help him and protect the Earth from attack, but Teal'c had let his emotions over-ride any cognitive process going on in his brain. Which was probably why he nearly lost the battle to Arkad. He could have taken Mitchell down with one or two moves; not that the man wasn't getting very proficient at defending himself, he'd been sparring with him for nearly two years now, but he had decades of moves Cam had yet to see. However, instead of simply incapacitating the man, he'd drawn out the fight, allowing his anger and frustration to inflict pain on a man he considered a close friend and brother in arms.

Teal'c watched the younger man's movements become more agitated, the lines of pain in his face deepening. "Col Mitchell?" Unfortunately, he was still too sore to move enough to physically wake the man, but apparently the very sound of his voice was enough.

Cameron bolted to his feet, his eyes darting frantically in every direction. He sucked in a breath and slumped back into the chair when his right wrist collided with the bed frame. "Teal'c, buddy, how you feeling," he asked, trying to cover up what was obviously an unusual reaction on his part.

Teal'c ignored the question entirely, "I believe you and I have been having similar dreams as of late."

"Oh, I doubt it."

"You are dreaming of our recent altercation as I have been."

That statement was pretty much the last thing he'd ever expected to pass Teal'c's lips. He allowed his blue eyes to search out the truth and… regret… in Teal'c's dark ones. "Look, Teal'c-"

"I owe you an apology-"

"No, Teal'c, you don't. Look, I could give a rat's ass that you beat the hell out of me; what worries me is _why_." It was using all of his concentration to keep his voice steady. "This isn't exactly the first time you and I have gotten into it outside of the sparring ring."

It was Teal'c's turn to be caught off guard, as rarely as that ever happened. However, the longer he thought Mitchell's announcement through, the more he realized it was perfectly in keeping with his character. Cam was a true warrior which meant that he was intelligent enough to know that often the motivations and emotions behind actions were more important than the actions themselves. Teal'c took a deep breath, Mitchell deserved an explanation, but he wasn't ready to delve that deep into his emotions yet. "I do not believe that I am prepared to answer that question at this time." At that point Cameron managed to surprise him again by getting in his face.

"Well then you better get prepared, because I'm getting sick and tired of being your personal punching bag when you lose your temper!" He stormed out of the room, nearly as shocked as Teal'c by what he'd just done, but the anger felt good for once. That wasn't how he'd planned on things going though.

Daniel heard rapid, heavy foot steps passing by his office door. Glancing up, he caught a brief glimpse of his irate team leader and called out, "hey Mitchell!"

Cam but his lip and tried to compose himself before back-tracking to Daniel's door. He raised his eyebrows expectantly, waiting for the obvious question.

"How'd it go?"

"Well, I'm conscious."

Jackson watched a myriad of emotions play through Cam's eyes; it was now easy to see exactly how exhausted the Col actually was, he rarely let his eyes reveal so much. "Is Teal'c?" It was a valid question considering anger was the most prominent emotion reflected on his friend's face.

"He's fine, I gotta go report to Lam."

Daniel smirked, glad that Cameron was going to get checked out for real. "She caught you huh?

Cam resisted the urge to flip him the bird before walking out the door. He used the time it took to get to Carolyn's office to force his emotions back down where they belonged for right now. "You wanted to see me?"

Lam led him to the main infirmary before speaking, "shirt off."

"I bet you say that to all the boys." He hesitated for a second before complying with the order. Oh, he was in for it now.

Carolyn could only shake her head at the deep bruising on his torso and forearm. "If I find out you've hidden something like this again, I'll give orders that you're to be given a _full_ physical exam with _all _the trimmings after every mission. X-rays now." Even his most winning smile wasn't enough to dissuade her as she gently shoved him out the door.


	5. Chapter 5

Teal'c lay perfectly still, allowing the medical staff to think he'd fallen asleep; he didn't want anyone intruding on his thoughts right now. Cam's final statement had served to remind him that his easy going manner could often be deceiving; Mitchell was not a person that would allow himself to be stepped on. Cameron had been right, he needed to get this figured out so that just maybe he could prevent it from happening in the future. It was always during times of high stress, yet he never seemed to have a problem keeping his aggression under wraps when it came to the others in similar situations. So what was so different about Cam? He had the same level of respect for the Col as he did for the others, based on his thoughts and beliefs as much as it was on his abilities. He considered them all close friends. Even Vala, as unpredictable as she could be, had grown on him. But his bond with Mitchell was different; it had to be as much time as they spent sparring together. It was a relationship in which they were both instructors; Cameron was one of the few people left in the galaxy that knew even the basics of the Sodan fighting style. By teaching Teal'c what he knew, he was ensuring that the knowledge would be passed on to another generation of Jaffa. In return, Teal'c was slowly but surely teaching him the other fighting styles of the Jaffa. Their relationship was more Jaffa to Jaffa than human to Jaffa.

And suddenly Teal'c had his answer, he thought of Mitchell as a Jaffa warrior, albeit a young one in need of much training. But Cam wasn't a Jaffa, he was a human; he had a human outlook, human beliefs, and human emotions. Now all he had to do was remember that.

He resurfaced from his thoughts as he heard Dr Lam issuing orders. He opened his eyes when she laid a tentative hand on his arm.

"Teal'c we need to move you to the main infirmary, SG-7 picked up a flu bug off world and we want to keep them in isolation for awhile." She moved out of the way as one of the nurses began unhooking the various lines connected to Teal'c.

"That is fine; will SG-7 be alright?" Teal'c's main thought was that this new development would delay the continuation of his conversation with Mitchell. It wasn't exactly something he wanted an audience for.

"I'm sure they'll be fine; the symptoms are similar to our flu, but I don't want to take any chances." She stopped fussing with his IV when a thought struck her, "I'll even put you next to Cam-Col Mitchell so you can finish your chat from this morning; he mentioned some unfinished business."

"Col Mitchell is in the infirmary?" Teal'c closed his eyes in resignation, knowing exactly why he would be in there. Cam hadn't exactly been his usual self that morning, but he hadn't appeared injured either.

"Yeah, he managed to slip a concussion and a couple fractures by one of my staff yesterday, so I'm punishing him with a night in the infirmary." Carolyn laughed softly, "there are times I think that man would sell his Grandmother's secret recipes to get out of having to stay in here." Might be worth it, she thought to herself as she remembered the taste of his homemade chili and cornbread.

"Somehow, that does not surprise me." He picked up his head a bit higher as they entered the infirmary. Sure enough, Cam was passed out on a bed at the far end of the room, his right forearm encased in a soft cast, his left slung across his eyes. "His arm?"

"A couple of hairline fractures in his ulna, he has a couple of fractured ribs as well; Arkad's men really did a number on him. However, knowing him, he'll be up and running around by morning, not that he wasn't already today." When she had Teal'c's bed situated to her liking, she laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I have to go check on SG-7, get some sleep, ok?"

Lam stopped one of the medical staff on her way out the door. "How many did it take," she asked, inclining her head toward Cameron.

"He refused to take anymore than two, said he had better things to do than sleep for the next two days."

Lam sighed, it wasn't as long as she would have liked, but it would have to do. "Ok, thank you Lt., that should keep him down for at least twelve hours."

**STARGATE: SG-1**

Sam poked her head into the room and smiled at the sight of Daniel and Vala bent over a translation, their heads nearly touching. "Hey guys, I see we all took that order for a day off seriously."

Vala couldn't hide her smirk, "what else were we going to do? I'm still not allowed off base alone, and you two have no life."

"Hey!" Carter and Jackson shared a look at their combined outburst, but it only took them a second to admit to themselves that she was right.

"Anyway, I just wanted to see if you guys were up for an early dinner. I was looking for Cam too, usually he would have been in my lab twice by now, bugging me to eat something, but I haven't seen him since this morning." Sam was starting to get worried; he hadn't been at any of his usual haunts, and he hadn't looked good yesterday, physically or emotionally.

Daniel worried his lip for a second, "last time I saw him, he was on his way to report to Dr Lam. Maybe we should check with her."

Vala laughed out laud, taking the other two by surprise. "Oh, I'm sure he was 'reporting' to her," she knew it was the perfect time to use the air quotes Cameron had taught her.

"No… this time I think he actually was." Daniel stopped for a second, wondering how much he could tell his teammates without betraying Mitchell's confidence. "I ended up driving him home last night, T-Arkad's men did more damage than he let on yesterday. I think Carolyn got wise to it when he went to visit Teal'c this morning." It had been agreed before they came back through the gate that nothing of Cam and Teal'c's fight would be mentioned on base.

Sam dropped her head; leave it to Cam to do the self-sacrificing thing. He didn't want them mad at Teal'c and he didn't want Teal'c feeling guilty, so he pretended that he was fine. "Well, let's go see if she knows where he is then. We can see if she's hungry too."

Daniel and Vala nodded, they set their translation aside and followed her toward Lam's office. Vala stopped them when they passed the door to the infirmary, "look."

Mitchell and Teal'c sound asleep at the end of the room was actually a rather comforting sight.

"Let that be a lesson to all of you." They turned to see Carolyn standing behind them with her arms crossed decisively.

"Huh?" Very eloquent Jackson.

"He hid a couple of injuries from my staff yesterday, so I punished him with a night in here." Her eyes drifted to her patients, silently willing both of them to have a dreamless sleep.

Vala tried to lighten the somber mood, "I guess lunch is out then." She turned her attention to Lam and wasn't surprised to find her staring intently at Cam, "unless you're hungry?"

Carolyn flushed at the invitation, pleased that they were making an effort to include her. "No thank you, after hanging around SG-7 for the last hour, I don't think I'll get my apatite back for at least a day. Alien flu bug," she clarified at their curious look.

They cringed collectively, glad they weren't in her shoes. "Understandable, let us know if you need any help keeping those two in line."

Daniel was stopped from following Sam and Vala out when Lam put a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you for taking care of him last night. I wanted to be there, but-" she waved a hand in Teal'c's direction. She sniffed back the tears that were threatening to fall; it had eaten her up inside that she couldn't be there for him when she knew he was hurting.

Jackson enclosed her in a friendly, comforting hug. "That's what friends are for." He gave her one more quick squeeze to make sure that she was ok before turning to catch up with Sam and Vala.

A sound behind her had her turning around to see Cam tossing in his bed; so much for a dreamless sleep. She quickly made her way there and pulled the curtain around his bed. What she was about to do was extremely inappropriate to do while they were at work, but she'd be damned if she was going to let him suffer through another nightmare. She gently lay down beside him, one hand on his chest, the other rubbing his forehead. Almost immediately, he quieted down and turned into her touch. This wasn't the first nightmare he'd had since they'd been together and she had quickly learned the best way to calm him. They always seemed to be worse when something happened to one of his teammates. Frankly, she was surprised he'd gotten any sleep at all when both Daniel and Sam had been missing. He'd told her about some of them, but mostly he preferred to deal with them on his own so he didn't add to her burden. She lay there for a few more minutes before planting a final kiss on his forehead and returning to work.

**STARGATE: SG-1**

Mitchell stretched expansively before really thinking it through and winced at the pain it caused. He nearly groaned aloud when he caught sight of his watch, 3 am. Perfect, he had at least four more hours before Carolyn would even consider releasing him and there was no way he could fall asleep again since that was all he'd done for the past fourteen hours. He sat up and ran a hand over his face.

"Col Mitchell."

In the relative dark of the room he hadn't even noticed the figure in the other bed. "Teal'c, how are you feeling?" He tried to ignore the nagging voice reminding him of how he'd left their last conversation.

"I am well, Dr Lam has stated that I will be released in two or three days." Teal'c fervently wished he could match Cameron's posture; this was not the type of talk to have while lying on your back.

"Look Teal'c, about our talk earlier, I'm sorry I yelled at you, its-"

Teal'c could see the Col fidgeting nervously, "I am not. Your directive inspired me to explore the reasoning behind my recent actions. I believe I have found the answer to your question."

"Really," he tried to keep the surprise out of his voice, "what'd you come up with?"

Teal'c was suddenly glad he'd rehearsed this conversation in his head, but he hadn't anticipated how hard it would be with those earnest blue eyes looking straight into his. "I view our relationship as that of Jaffa warrior to Jaffa warrior."

"You do?" This time he let his surprise show. "Teal'c, buddy, that just might be the biggest compliment you've ever given me." He paused, "that was a compliment, right?"

Teal'c nodded, "it was. However, I must also remember that you are human and therefore view certain actions differently than a Jaffa would. Keeping this in mind, I will endeavor to control my actions and emotions better in the future."

They sat in silence while Cam digested that bit of information. The longer he thought about it, the more he realized that another Jaffa wouldn't have thought twice about the fight. "You know, I thought I was going to have to work a lot harder to get you to talk about this, but I don't want you to keep your anger bottled up. If our enemy of the week is around I would prefer you go after them; but if not, I'd rather you come find me than take it out on yourself, Daniel, Sam, or Vala. A little heads up would be nice though."

Always the consummate leader, Mitchell was still willing to do whatever it took to protect his team, even from themselves, "agreed. I must also thank you for your help after I was injured in the explosion."

Cameron furrowed his brow, "Teal'c, I didn't do much of anything besides sit and watch."

"It was your presence and moral support that helped the most. Knowing that you had been in my position and succeeded gave me strength."

Cam smiled around a yawn. "Glad I could be of service then. Hey, you up for a game of chess? I'm horrible, but I hear that you're a pretty good teacher."

Teal'c inclined his head, "I would be honored to beat you in a game of chess. However, I do not believe it would be wise for you to get caught while acquiring a board; Dr Lam appeared most upset with you earlier."

"You let me worry about her." Cam threw a smile and a wink in his direction before stiffly getting to his feet and sneaking toward the door.

"Cameron Frank Mitchell, back in bed now!" Carolyn's voice had a hard edge to it.

"Ah hell," he tried to ignore Teal'c's 'I told you so' expression as he slumped back toward the bed. "You knew she was in her office, didn't you?"

Teal'c's grin grew wider, "I did."

"Traitor," Cam lay back with a smile of his own; at least he didn't have to worry about that particular nightmare anymore.

**Yea, its finished! I'm going to apoligize for Teal'c's voice in this, I've never really written more than two words from him. As to the Cam/Carolyn relationship, I'm pretty much pretending that "Bounty" never happened, because we all know he's _way_ to good of a guy to cheat. Thanks to Blaney and Loozy for the relationship ideas.**


End file.
